A Learner-Centered Design Method for Educational Technology

Publications

This paper aims to share EDC’s learnings from developing and implementing this method including addressing issues of trust between youth and adult team members, appropriately acknowledging youth contributions, balancing the roles of mentors and adult design partners, and making dynamic curriculum adjustments based on participants learning styles and skill levels.

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Building Engagement With Technology-Enhanced Local Learning

Publications

Drawing on a multi-year research and development program, the authors report on the promise of integrating locally-focused student investigations with ubiquitous access to advanced technologies. By doing this, students are better able to see the relevance of STEM skills and knowledge as they work to improve their local communities. Specific program examples cited show the paradigm as it has been implemented with upper elementary and middle school students. Contrasting examples show challenges in implementation. A four-part framework of essential program elements is offered to guide further

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Women, Gender, and Science: New Directions

Publications

What do research on women in science and research on science and gender have to do with each other? This volume brings together prominent historians and philosophers of science to examine women's participation in science, gender and science, and the potential for interaction between these two pieces of a larger puzzle. The eleven chapters included here explore a number of interrelated topics: the experiences of individual women working in science; the demographic patterns of and support for women in specific fields; the gendered construction of scientific education and terminology; the impact

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Gender and Science Digital Library (GSDL)

Publications

The Gender & Science Digital Library (GSDL) is a cutting-edge, collaborative project between the Gender & Diversities Institute at Education Development Center, Inc (EDC) and the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC) at Ohio State University. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF has established the National Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Digital Library program (NSDL) – a massive, international initiative which will result in a network of learning environments and resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM)

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Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing

Publications

Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing examines the gender gap in computer science. Women, by and large, are underrepresented in all segments of information technology, from enrollment in courses in high schools and colleges to the numerous employment opportunities associated with the discipline. Authors Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher detail the findings of over 100 interviews with computer science students at Carnegie Mellon University. These interviews, of both male and female students, document the various challenges faced by females pursuing career opportunities in computer science

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More than Title IX: How Equity in Education has Shaped the Nation

Publications

This book, co-authored by Sarita Pillai, Co-PI of the ITEST Learning Resource Center, highlights the impact of one of the most powerful instruments of change—education. The book blends historical analysis and dynamic interviews with people who made a difference— as policy moved beyond the classroom into homes, workplaces, and our very culture. By showing how hard-won changes in education have improved life in America, we hope to inspire and challenge others to craft their own vision of equity and justice and invent new ways to address barriers that persist across gender, race, and class—to

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Changing the High School Culture to Promote Interest in IT Careers

Publications

Interviews with high achieving middle school girls enrolled in a math and technology summer program showed that one fourth of the girls were interested in careers in IT. The girls were interviewed four years later when they were in high school. We found that all of them were still interested in math and most of them were taking, or had taken, advanced math courses. However, only several were taking or had taken a computer science course and only one girl expressed interest in pursuing a career in IT. They showed a general lack of information about computer science, computer scientists and

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Freedom Machines

Curricular Materials

The Freedom Machines film, discussion guide, lesson plan, and resource guides are designed to dramatically broaden the concept of diversity for all students through telling the intimate stories of adults and children with disabilities who are using modern technologies to change their lives.

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Introduction: Gender in the Internet Age

Publications

In this issue, linguist Susan Herring presents a survey of research on gender in computer-mediated communication on mailing lists and in discussion groups. Lisa King, the president of DC Web Women, discusses gender in online communities, which she distinguishes from public or semi-public discussion groups. Virginia Eubanks, editor of the cyberfeminist 'zine Brillo, begins with the claim that the Internet is actively and aggressively hostile to women and discusses her successes challenging the paradigms that actively exclude white women and people of color. Information scientist Elizabeth

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